Goldman Sachs strategist Ben Schneidau said that companies are increasing their investments in artificial intelligence (AI) at an unprecedented pace, yet for most firms, this technology has not yet translated into tangible improvements in earnings.
In a report published by Goldman Sachs on August 14, it said that during this year’s second-quarter earnings season, only 2% of the constituents of the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ had quantified the specific impact of AI on earnings. Another 11% said they had observed measurable productivity gains in specific areas such as software programming and customer support.
However, the companies that have implemented these efficiency improvements have not significantly outperformed overall market levels in terms of profit growth. Data shows that their median year-over-year profit growth was 17%, while companies that have not quantified the contribution of AI efficiencies were at 14%. Goldman Sachs noted that this gap is not statistically significant.